What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

LATAM Airlines Brasil was the first Brazilian company to request voluntary reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Civil Code, and the first Brazilian company to successfully exit the Chapter 11 procedures in November 2022. My team greatly supported our Procurement and Commercial departments in renegotiating contracts with large and small suppliers.

Moreover, my team advised our Fleet Planning teams and worked on the required paperwork to end those lease agreements rejected under the Chapter 11 process, as well as the needed paperwork to reshape our aircraft fleet by reason of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Chapter 11 process.

In the past year, my team has engaged in ESG initiatives, such as sustainability matters, D&I, female leadership and empowerment. We assisted our sustainability team with commercial partnerships aiming at carbon-neutral operations and carbon offsetting.

We reviewed and assisted the Sustainability department with negotiating contracts regarding circular economy initiatives. As a broadly announced example, LATAM contracted the NGO Revoada, which produces cases, bags, and key chains from the uniforms used by the LATAM crew, and my team oversaw reviewing the draft contract and assisting the Sustainability team. My team also brought a representative of this NGO to speak about their work to the Legal department. We have also invited senior female partners of the major law firms in Brazil to talk about female leadership to our Legal team.

Furthermore, my team has proudly led the implementation of a trailblazer contract management solution in the LATAM Airlines Group S.A., which allowed us to effectively measure the number of requests for contracts we receive, the SLAs of the legal departments in each LATAM Group affiliate, and identify which areas are our main clients. I am always encouraging my team to seek innovation.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

Aviation is an extremely dynamic industry. In an airline, scenarios and strategies change all the time. A successful aviation professional must be flexible and adaptable and seek innovation to get things done more efficiently.

How have you fostered a closer collaboration between the legal department and your business counterparts?

Promoting a mindset change in my team and showing our business counterparts that the Legal team should be seen as a real counsellor, not as something to fear. I advocate that a modern in-house counsel should always bring solutions and possibilities. The traditional style of in-house counselling (solely pointing out risks and saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a project) is no longer acceptable. We must get involved in the company’s core business and get to know the needs of our clients.

Do you have a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

As a working mom, and mother of a little girl, I particularly care about diversity and inclusion matters to build a better world for our children. I have become passionate about the female empowerment cause, and I dream of the day when women will not face certain situations that undermine us as leaders and human beings, especially in the workplace.